by Rev. Bill Gupton

I continue to be amazed by the power and depth of this community we call Heritage Church. As most of you know, we currently have several members who are dealing with significant life-threatening and terminal medical diagnoses – and our church family has consistently rallied around those families in wonderful, remarkable ways. There is a quote I used recently in a sermon:

“Life is amazing. And then it’s awful. And then it’s amazing again. And in between the amazing and the awful, it is ordinary and mundane and routine. So, breathe in the amazing. Hold on to the awful. Relax, and exhale the ordinary. That is how we live – by leaning and breathing into this heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. That is how we make it breathtakingly beautiful.”

That quote captures the full range of our human existence. It reminds us how to embrace the full spectrum of our experiences as one beautiful whole – one interwoven quilt that, as the poet Blake tells us, is made more beautiful by “joy and woe, woven fine.” And it sums up, for me, not only the way of the world, but also the way life is these days in this community we are blessed to share at Heritage.

Hug those around you, my friends. If there is no one around to hug, come to church on Sunday – where hugs are both free, and plentiful. Look long and lovingly at the sunset. Or the stars. Or a child. A flower. A puppy. A spider’s web. “Memento Mori” – remember that you will die. And choose, in this breathtakingly beautiful moment that you do live, to breath deeply, love deeply, live deeply. Then share what you find in that moment, with others.

Blessed be. See you at church!

Namaste,
Rev. Bill

October, 2018.

by Jaime Castle

My mother is from Bay Ridge Brooklyn, New York. Growing up in the little suburban Village of Greenhills, this stood out to my friends. Having heard her special way of twaalking all my life, it was quite normal to me. I didn’t think about it and thought that all moms spoke that way. But as I got older and new friends would come to play, they undoubtedly would bring it up.

It was a joke in my family to tease her by imitating her and I think she got a kick out of it. “Don’t twaalk to your maawdda until she’s had her cawaofffee!” There was a lot of laughter in my house growing up. There were five kids: my half-siblings were more than a decade older and I was the second last but had a middle-child-like upbringing. We were pretty free range; our front door was never locked and we often took off on our bikes or ventured out to the nearby woods and creek always coming home in time for supper.

We lived in the same house my whole childhood, no one close to me had died. My dad had a steady job with the city and my mom stayed home only taking part time work when we were older. We were good kids, following all the rules. There was zero drama at all. My mother doted on us – especially my little brother! I thought grown-ups to be infallible beings free from childish and adolescent insecurities and full of wisdom.

This simple carefree upbringing I quickly resented, however, when I arrived to college and found myself in my English Composition class at a loss about what to write about. College was a huge culture shock to me as I met so many different people and was all on my own. The people I met came from all sorts of backgrounds and many had been through so much. They all seemed SO MUCH more interesting than myself. They say to write about what you know, but what did I know about anything? I was really mad that my childhood and life was so boring.

Looking back now, I wish that my childhood really was boring, because you see, there was a lot that I didn’t know about at the time. My mother was holding onto a lot of pain that she kept hidden. She wanted her children to have a better life and childhood than she had and that started the second she agreed to marry a man that she met in the US Virgin Islands when she was a struggling widow with two toddlers in tow. She saw in him stability and safety and that was good enough.

I was ignorant to my mother’s past until I took her out on her Birthday the year I was 22. It’s startling what a bottle of Chardonnay can unleash! Sometime during that meal and after a glass or two of wine, my mother decided to unload on me stories that seemed straight out of a novel or movie. I listened and took it all in like I was watching scenes that were too strange in that they could not have happened to someone I had known all of my life. How could it all be true and none of us kids were clued in on it?

I had never met anyone from her family, although I had heard her talk about a brother back in New York and an elderly aunt in Texas. Both of her parents had died before I was born, as did her grandparents who raised her. I knew her dad was from Scotland, but that was all I knew of him. My father’s family was very active in our lives, though, so it never occurred to wonder about her family. But she sat there talking to me almost like in a trance.

She did not have a happy childhood. She felt like an unwanted burden and was verbally and sometimes physically abused. She grew up along with her two brothers with her very tough maternal grandparents and her mother in a brownstone house. Her mother was stricken young with MS and was more like a sister to her. She was quiet though and did not or could not show affection. She remembers having to push her around in a makeshift wheelchair that was made from a folding chair on a little platform with wheels. She resented her at the time and would purposely knock her into things. She felt deep regret about that later. Her father was an alcoholic and was abusive, having spent time in jail for throwing her mother down the stairs, causing a miscarriage. My mother said that after she was born, her father tried to steal her from the hospital wrapped up in a newspaper. He didn’t get out of the hospital with her though. That occurrence intrigued her deeply as she didn’t know her father on a personal level and she wondered what would have happened to her.

There is a whole lot more to her story, including her not-so-nice first husband, but it is not for me to tell now. Let’s fast forward to me at age 22 with my mother sitting across from me. She was struggling with anxiety and past traumas and I didn’t know what to say or how to react. My whole life up until that moment was only a façade. But she had created that life for me so that I would not have the traumas that she had. I felt really guilty about my previous wish and resentment. I learned a hard lesson that a boring life that is pain free can be a beautiful thing!

There is a second lesson in this: that everyone has a story. Sometimes the story that a person has is nowhere near what your imaginings are. We must be reverent to the stories and see in each person a mystery that we cannot know. Treating all with a delicate kindness that acknowledges that we do not know where they have been or what they have been through, and appreciating the boring times in our lives, are both some of the significant ways that we can all navigate this life journey together.

I appreciate and revere you all!

Jaime Castle

October 2018

by Jaime Castle

Right before my youngest turned one, I was ready to get out of the house again. A very part-time bartending job (two days a week) at a quick-paced place seemed just the ticket. At that time, The Banks across from the stadium (a large retail, restaurant, and residential complex) had opened its first business. As one of the opening bartenders I did get to see a lot of action on game days. Non-game days, however, were another thing – especially at lunch time. One such lunchtime shift sticks out in my memory the most though. It was May, 20, 2011 – or otherwise known as: the day before Doomsday!

Heading into work that morning I was a little ill at ease. Harold Camping, Christian radioman, evangelist, and biblical soothsayer had been preaching the end of the world – the beginning of Judgment Day would come on May 21, 2011. He spent millions on billboards warning folks about Doomsday and many totally bought into it. Some believers quit their jobs, dropped out of school, sold their belongings all in eager anticipation of their holy reward. Other people politely ignored the warning as ravings of an unhinged man though some found opportunity to jest – creating looting party meet ups for the day after. I initially thought “whatever!” but driving in to work, I thought I was beginning to see signs that there might be truth in it!?

Let’s begin with my workplace – The Holy Grail! And then there were songs on the radio that were reinforcing the theme in question. In one such song “Give Me Everything” the singer advises that you should grab someone and dance and tell them to give you everything tonight because WE MIGHT NOT SEE TOMORROW. And in the very next song not only does the young lady singer never want to leave the dance club floor – she would like to KEEP DANCING TILL THE WORLD ENDS.

I arrive at work and now I’m a little mad. This is not how I’d like to be spending my last normal day on earth. I went about my opening duties per usual and remained pretty quiet during the lunch hours. It was a normal super slow non-game day which made the time seem to just creep by. I did happen to be working with my favorite coworker at least – a very low-key gal – and she was catching on to my angst. I leveled with her as we were looking over the menu. One perk of working there was that we were given a huge discount on the food. Then she came up with one of the greatest ideas.

“We should order for ourselves the most ridiculously fattening bad-for-you thing that we can think of,” she told me. We each then proceeded to invent for ourselves the burgers of our dreams. We called them our Raptureburgers!

So, I know that you are very anxious now to know how this all works out. I will cut to the chase – the world did not end on May 21, 2011. A flabbergasted Harold Camping promised to “look into” the answers of why Judgement Day had not occurred and tried to extend the prophesy until later in the year. He later ended up apologizing as he left the fortune telling business for good.

For me, this whole experience made me reflect on the “Live Today” sayings: “Yesterday’s history, tomorrow’s a mystery, so live for today” or “Live every day like it’s your last.” Now I get the whole Carpe Diem idea – today is a blessing and you should be present, but you still must pay your rent or mortgage and you shouldn’t go max out your credit cards AND you should not be ordering Raptureburgers for every meal.

Tomorrow is a mystery, but we should always hope for it. September is my favorite time of the year: the milder weather, the changing leaves to come, back to school time, fall sports, bonfires, my Birthday! I am planning a lot of amazing events to share with my Heritage family. We need to take care of ourselves and our responsibilities each day while realizing that every day is a blessing. So, for now, take care of you and yours, Heritage! What a blessing you are!

Jaime

September 2018.

by Rev. Bill Gupton

It is not uncommon for visitors and newcomers, new members of the church, and even long-standing Heritage members to wonder how they can get more involved in our growing community. As we enter into the busiest, most active time of our “church year,” I assure you there are dozens of fun ways for you to get involved in the life of Heritage Church. In the process, you will make new friends and meet some of the most amazing people you’ll ever know. I encourage you to make a “new year’s resolution” to make/find five friends at Heritage this fall. #findfive!

A great starting place is the recently updated Green Booklet titled “What’s Happening at Heritage” – available on the information table in the church lobby. It has detailed information about 57 (that’s right, 57!) distinct events, activities, groups, regular meetings, and so on that will help you connect with others in our congregation. Pick up a copy next Sunday and begin to #findfive!

It is also a good idea to visit – frequently – our excellent, ever-changing website, www.huuc.net. Doing so will give you a variety of choices for connection. We are a seven day a week church, each and every week. And if you’re not already signed up to receive our weekly email announcements and other “breaking news” electronically, contact our Church Administrator, Denise Martinez, and ask to be added to “HUUCannouncements.” You can email her at:

To help you #findfive!, we’ve also created a new group called the Connections Team, whose purpose is to help everyone at Heritage, from newcomers to long-time members, make new friends while deepening existing connections within our church community. Whether it’s welcoming visitors to creating regular opportunities for fellowship to checking in regularly with one another, the Connections Team is committed to the goal of community building at HUUC. Drop me a line at the email address below, or call me at 513-633-8703, and I’ll connect you with the Connections Team!

In a similar vein, our Board of Trustees is committed to helping us have fun this church year! These are challenging times in which we live. There is much work to be done, both within our Heritage community and in our world, but we’re also here to enjoy ourselves – together. Watch for opportunities to have Unitarian Universalist fun (the Board’s calling it “FUUN”) in multi-age, intergenerational community. If you have questions, speak with our dynamic Board President, Jaime Castle, or email her at:

Let’s have a fun-filled Fall. Let’s each #findfive! (or more) new friends in this community. Let’s do lunch. (Seriously. Give me a call.) And as we continue to grow – let’s stay connected!

See you at church…

Namaste,
Rev. Bill

September 2018.

by Rev. Bill Gupton

I’ve been thinking a lot this summer about just how blessed we are to have this remarkable congregation called Heritage Church. And about how lucky I am to be part of this beloved community. You probably know this, but it bears lifting up, periodically: Most people simply don’t have such a community in their lives. Most people don’t have others, beyond their family, to whom they can turn when times are hard; for whom they can offer support; from whom they can receive unconditional acceptance; with whom they can truly be themselves.

The kind of community we have at Heritage doesn’t happen by magic. We are mindful about living out the Love that is the Spirit of our church, with the intention of creating a community that is both safe and supportive. In these times of division, scapegoating, bullying and marginalization, safety and support are more important than ever. Like me, many of you participate in similarly wonderful intentional UU communities that gather for just one week, each summer – a kind of Brigadoon experience. And – if you are anything like me – the idyllic nature of those communities only serves to underscore what a good thing we have going here in Cincinnati, on Newtown Road – 365 days a year.

In just the past couple of months, I know that the broader Heritage family has rallied around families and individuals who have lost jobs, have moved, have experienced medical crises, have experienced the death of a loved one, or simply are going through a difficult time. Our Caring Circle is incredibly amazing in the reach and scope of its loving lay ministry. Small groups, where seeds of love have been nurtured and grown deep roots, offer support. Random individuals offer random acts of kindness nearly every day. Hugs abound – everywhere from the aisles at Kroger (where I almost never fail to meet at least one HUUC member) to the waiting rooms in hospitals.

Think about it: How many other groups or communities have you been a part of where others will drop what they are doing, interrupt their schedule, and be there for you, when you need a helping hand, or simply a shoulder to cry on? How many places can you go, in this modern world, where you are greeted with a genuine smile and a warm hug and a deep concern for how are you today? I’m betting few, if any. That’s how special Heritage is. How rare.

As we begin a new “church year” – with my colleague Rev. Leslie Woodward on sabbatical through early January – let us be grateful for the blessings of this wonderful, beloved community.

See you at church!

Namaste,
Rev. Bill

August 2018.

by Jaime Castle

I quit teaching high school English and Drama when I was 25 years old. It was a killer combo of topics to teach, requiring much of my time and energy. I was also not receiving sufficient support from my Principal who was more focused on athletics and not the arts. There was a huge amount of guilt that I was feeling as I worried about the students that I was leaving behind. I had bonded with my theater kids and I had many artsy kids that would sometimes hang out and chat with me after school while I would grade papers and they would be waiting for a ride or whatever. But I knew that I needed to step back as my energy was drained and I was nowhere near my best self.

I took up Real Estate after teaching and enjoyed the freedoms that the entrepreneurial life afforded me in regards to setting my own schedule. I worked for a small company in Hyde Park but was not knocking it out of the park as the more established folks earned most of the clients. But my timing was great as it was when the market was booming and I got a little piece of the pie (before the bust).

About my second year at it, I got a call that summer from a former student. Her name was Meghan and she was one who would hang out after school sometimes. She was reaching out to me on behalf of her friend, Chris, who was also one of the students that took to me as a teacher and mentor. Chris was staying at Children’s Hospital in their psychiatric ward under suicide watch and undergoing severe depression treatment – I learned from her. Meghan asked if it would be ok if Chris’s mother contacted me about spending time with him. It was arranged that Meghan and I would pick up Chris from the hospital for an outing to Burnet Woods to just hang out.

It was hard to shake off the weight of the circumstances, but the whole outing: me picking up Meghan from her home in Northside and just swinging by to pick up Chris, just felt normal. We didn’t talk about what he’d been through. I didn’t offer advice. I was just present. Maybe it was because I didn’t know what to say or didn’t think I was owed any details. But we just walked around the park, talking, laughing. Then we sat a picnic table shelter and they each had little sketch books that they were doodling in.

Chris only said one thing about his struggles. He told us that there was one thing that he did that helped him. He said “it’s kinda silly, like The Sound of Music, but what I do is make a list of things that make me happy. Music, foods, certain people, my dog, skateboarding: I just start writing them down and thinking about them one at a time and it just kinda gets me by.” He shook off the heaviness of the topic and started talking about something else and shortly after, we left the park and took him back to Children’s. Meghan thanked me and said she’d be keeping in touch with him and said that today was a good day.

I share this story with you as it brings me to the focus that I want to direct my Heritage Church Presidency time on: Restoring and renewing our individual and collective energies. I know that many of us are feeling an energy drain due the circumstances of the big world and of our smaller worlds. The 2020 elections are going to require us to be strong and to do that effectively, we need to practice better self-care and community care! And this is not meaning the kind of care that our truly amazing Care Committee does. They lovingly support members‘ specific needs in a very real and organized way and will continue to do that.

My idea is to have events throughout this church year focusing on this aim: A Cleansing of the Energies Ritual, hikes, picnics, etc. I’m wanting to spread positivity and to help “fill up our energy gas tank” with various forms of TLC.

Dean Ornish, M.D., says in the book Healing and the Mind, “When you focus your energy, you gain more power, for better and for worse.” He goes on to point out that “Unfortunately in our culture we tend to have our minds most focused when we are angry, upset, afraid, or worried.” He points out that this kind of mental and emotional focus can have harmful effects on the body. The root of the word “heal” is “to make whole.” I think we all could use a little healing right now to help us get back to being our better selves. Let’s do some of this together!

Reach out to me if you have ideas or would like to help. Or reach out if you have needs that Heritage can help you with or if you want to let me know that you are just feeling that drain too. My email is: jaimecastle@me.com (make sure to spell Jaime correctly).

And lastly, I want you to know that the people that make up Heritage Church are definitely on “My Favorite Things List!”

~Jaime Castle

August 2018.

by Jaime Castle

During my early twenties, I was a high school teacher and worked part time at a trendy restaurant on the weekends. My restaurant boss was quite the character. He had immigrated here from Thailand and was thoroughly enjoying his new-found success. The recent riots in the downtown area had brought night-goers and their money north to revel in the safe haven of Hyde Park. My boss bought himself a sporty new luxury car and had a large collection of different expensive sunglasses and watches. He had an abundance of new friends who would cozy up to him and thus collect their complimentary glass of champagne. It was a fun time for us workers too, to see the local ballplayers come in, and to have our boss be in a such a good and generous mood.

One day as I arrived in to set up for dinner service, I noticed that he was sitting at our sparkly little bar, back to the front door, alone in contemplation. He was wearing a white track suit with a matching big white watch and gold sunglasses. His arms were crossed as were his legs and he was smoking a cigarette and nodding his head back in forth, looking very bemused. He caught my movement along with another girl who had walked in behind me and called us over to him. “Tell me,” he started in all seriousness. My friend and I were wide eyed in anticipation of what he could possibly ask. “If you saw a car with the license plate MAGICGUY would you think that was cool?”

The question was strange and neither I nor my friend could reflect and answer quick enough as he continued, “I mean…MAGIC GUY!? Who thinks that that is going to score him any points?” He continued with this line of wonder, speaking out loud to himself as we slowly backed away, laughing softly. He probably thought that we were laughing in agreement, but more it was funny that he would take such offense.

I tell you about this brief moment in my life, so that you may know a little bit more about me as I hope to learn more about all of you and where you have come from. But also, I recently have been finding myself contemplating what is “Magic!”

I wonder if Magic Guy was just that, a guy that could do magic tricks to please the crowd and make children smile? Or maybe he was someone who, after contemplation and reflection on the world around him and all its wonder, had discovered that he, and everyone and everything, was filled with magic?

Having two young children, the theme of magic often comes up in their books and films to add brighter color to their world. The magic is not hidden but is called out and realized and celebrated. It is easy to see magic when you are young, but somewhere along the way, we can lose sight of it. But I’m seeing it again. It is on the darkest nights that the stars shine the brightest. This place, our church home of Heritage, is filled with bright stars and magic. Call it Spirit or Divine or anything else. It is inside me and you and is all around us. As I enter this year of service as The Board of Trustees President, my aim is to continue to foster the love and feelings of community that are so magical to me here! I will lead fearlessly and love hard.

Lastly, THANK YOU to Donna Buckley for serving as such a true and loving leader and mentor to me and for all that you have given and continue to give to your Heritage family!

With Love,
MAGICGAL

July 2018.

by Rev. Leslie Woodward

There are 34 days until the sabbatical for the Assistant Minister for Religious Education, but who’s counting?

You may have heard that I will be absent from August through the end of the year, enjoying my sabbatical! Yes, all of the wonderful stuff we typically plan for Fall will have to happen without me! RE classes will go on as usual; several worship services will be for all-ages; two RE community days are scheduled; the Halloween and Holiday Parties must go on; and what will happen with the Pop Up Christmas Pageant?

Never fear — there is a Sabbatical Task Force that will organize and manage our religious education programming, and a lot of the extra stuff too. Jaime Castle, Steph Tacy, Ellie Lamb, and Feriel Feldman will handle most of the week-to-week tasks, but they will need your help! Start thinking TODAY about perhaps teaching RE this term, or volunteering to organize a party or take on another project. Talk to Jaime Castle about how you can step up to make sure everything goes smoothly.

During my sabbatical, I plan to visit other religious education programs to study a model that many in Unitarian Universalism are calling “family ministry.” What does family ministry look like in a UU context? How might we better minister not only to our children and youth, but also to their parents and caregivers? How does this fit into congregational life as a whole, not just on Sunday morning? Yes, I’m excited about what I’ll learn and eager to bring new ideas, or better versions of old ideas, back to Heritage.

Rev. Leslie

July 2018.

by Rev. Bill Gupton

Summer is here. Have you ever noticed that with each change of season, a subtle change occurs in our sanctuary, too? We have four distinctive, decorative, labyrinth-themed pulpit cloths that adorn the pulpit where I and others speak; the summer version is bright red, representing the heat and sunshine of this particular season. In fall, there is a yellow-brownish fabric that features falling leaves. In winter, the look turns snowy. Spring is filled with green, just as the trees and the earth begin to bloom.

As a faith tradition that affirms “the interdependent web of all existence” (our Seventh Principle) and honors “earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life” and seeks to “live in harmony with the rhythm of nature” (our Sixth “Source”), we take note of the changing seasons. This time of year marks various changes (the end of our “church year” and fiscal year, transitions in our elected lay leadership, the end of the school and academic cycles that play prominent roles in the lives of many of our church families). Summer is a time for us to enjoy long days (and evenings), celebrate the solstice (outdoors at Heritage Church on June 21; see article elsewhere in this Heirloom), and – for some – to rejoin beloved annual “intentional communities” such as MUUSA, SUUSI, OMDSI and other acronym-laden gatherings of fellow UUs from around the country.

Summer is also the time when we each gather water from locations near and dear to our hearts and souls, in anticipation of the next change of season – at the end of August – when we celebrate our Water Ceremony and the beginning of fall. Then, over the next several months, we use that “holy water” to mark various turning points on the wheel of the year, including the depth-of-winter Water Healing Service, child dedication ceremonies, and memorial services. And have you noticed other “High Holy Days” throughout our church year? In addition to both water-themed services, there is Yom Kippur, All Souls Sunday, Thanksgiving Sunday, Winter Solstice, Christmas Eve, MLK Sunday, Easter Sunday and more. There are also the Sundays when we conduct “church business,” such as State of the Church Sunday, Stewardship Sunday and Annual Meeting Sunday.

Speaking of the latter, please be sure to come early to church on Sunday, June 3! On the first Sunday in June each year, we hold our annual congregational meeting, in which church members elect Board and other congregational representatives, adopt an operating budget, and honor outstanding volunteer service (we have a special surprise celebration in that category this year). With an adult membership now totaling 181, we have the highest “quorum requirement” we’ve had since well before any of us were at Heritage – so we need all members who can, to come to church at 8:30 a.m. on June 3. I look forward to sharing not one, but two annual reports with you at that meeting!

In gratitude for the gift it is to be part of this beloved community –

Namaste,
Rev. Bill

by Rev. Leslie Woodward

I’m afraid to declare that spring is finally here lest I bring on another snowstorm! But the tulips are blooming and the redbuds are about to burst out in all its purple glory and I’m reminder that we’ve got a lot to do before we wrap up the church year! Here are some of the things to keep in mind for our religious education programming this spring.

Our annual Senior Reflections/Bridging worship service is taking place on May 20th. If there is a youth in your household who is graduating from high school this year, be sure to contact Rev. Leslie to be included in this service. This is the chance for everyone at Heritage to celebrate our graduates and welcome them into adulthood.

During the May 20th service we will also recognize and thank all of our religious education teachers who provided love, care and learning to our children and youth during 2017-18. When you see one of these wonderful people, be sure to thank them in person.

Nursery care
Lilly Hutchins
Taylor Epperson

Preschool
Jenny Hamerstadt
Ann Roberts
Julia Sandman
Beth Staggenborg
June Van Dyke

Kindergarten/First Grade
Jaime Castle
Richard Gant
Carolyn Grady
Cherylin Loney
Steph Tacy
Sam Wilhite

Second/Third Grade
Aaron Bird
Rachel Bosch
Jaime Castle
Amanda Leirer
Alissa Paasch
Jon Paasch
Jennifer Sanders
Eva Sofge

Fourth/Fifth Grade
Rachel Bosch
Bryan Christ
Jenn Ciolino
Nicole Dangelo
Ellie Lamb
Dan Loney

Middle School
Nicole Christ
Bob Lamb
Feriel Feldman
Tamilyn Thompson

Yes, it takes a village (or a small army) to keep our children and youth engaged and safe! Be sure to talk with Rev. Leslie to learn how you can contribute your time and talent to our religious education programming.

Which leads naturally into our next topic — summer programming! We like to keep our summer theme a secret until our big launch day in mid-June; however, adults are needed to help plan throughout the month of May. So let’s just say that we will be “constructing” a lot of fun this summer! (Watch your email for information on saving some household packaging materials to be recycled into some cooperative projects!) Contact Rev. Leslie to be part of the planning team.

Finally, I will be out-of-town from May 10th through 13th. Our family will be celebrating our younger son Alex’s graduation from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Spring and Summer are awesome at Heritage. Won’t you join us?

Rev. Leslie